1228 Spring
Towards the end of Spring 1228, Paolo broke another silent streak by calling a meeting. After the other Magi had seated themselves, Paolo strode in with an Unseen Porter in tow, which was hauling a man wrapped in rope from head to toe, only nostrils sticking out. Paolo announced that he had caught the man in his Sanctum, tortured him long enough to find out his name (Vincenzo Lozzoni), and had performed a full cavity search to ensure that the man hadn't stolen anything. Paolo then dumped the man on the floor and went back to his lab. The other Magi were a bit taken aback, but through a combination of Mentem magics Simeon discovered the man's history: he was a miller who was raided by pirates, and was forced to join or die. He was sent onshore to infiltrate the Garden of Monsters and steal something belonging to one of the Magi. Simeon "earned" the man's trust, and instructed him to continue with his plan, giving him Teppa's lab notes of a familiar ability (useless to another magus). They then mounted an expedition to Naples to track and ambush Vincenzo's rendezvous, consisting of Lucca, Marion, Lorenzo, and Bomberto Smuzz (one of the newer grogs). In Naples, the expedition did some Intrigue work to determine that the Wicked Bitch (the captive's pirate ship) was not in port, and that its Captain, named Orbun, was not in the logbooks. Lucca had Marua track the captive as he tracked down his fellow pirates. Once the hapless pirate had arranged a meeting, the group shadowed him on the way to a hidden pier down at the docks. The captive handed over the lab notes to a burly pirate in a blue bandana that the Magi recognized as the first mate of Captain Orbun (from interrogating the captive). Suddenly, the first mate and three other pirates pulled out their blades and perforated the poor ex-pirate. Through Marua's eyes, Lucca noticed the first mate put the lab notes into an iron-bound chest. The party rushed to intercept the pirates on their way to a rowboat. A fight ensued, in which Lucca flung one pirate several blocks inland, Bomberto talked some shit and followed through on it, and two pirates were captured. Unfortunately, the fight was not a total success. When cornered, the first mate pulled out a shrunken head, which started writhing and gnashing its teeth. Seeing this, the party redoubled their efforts and attempted to knock the first mate's weapon out of his hands. They succeeded, but the first mate snarled and reached into his vest and activated something- then disappeared instantly. Chagrined, the party collected the spoils of the iron-bound chest (which was abnormally heavy, taking Bomberto's +3 Strength to carry) and a carefully-wrapped biting head, both of which radiated magic. The new captives were thrown into the dungeon and definitely not harmed in any way. Silvanus suggests that after a brutal lashing of the grogs that were on duty when we were infiltrated, we should implement some protection spells to keep people out.